Valve



M. G. SOGGE Oct. 4, 1955 VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 20, 1952 INVENTOR MELVIN G. SOGGE ATTORNEY M. G. SOGGE Oct. 4, 1955 VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 20, 1952 M v m w" iwww n M m o nlllnw r. o & 1| .5 w a" MUM w a T- MMWWH H: HI H w Q M M A m. 4 4 5 HIP m [a m g k INVENTOR MELVIN G. SOGGE flqwh,

ATTORNEY United States Patent VALVE Melvin G. Sogge, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Minnaapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Application December 20, 1952, Serial No. 327,068

8 Claims. (Cl. 13766) This invention relates to safety valves in general and, more specifically, to a combined plug valve and thermoelectric safety valve, which is operated in response to the presence or absence of a flame at a pilot burner in a fuel burning plant or unit.

This type of a combined valve is generally well known in the heating controls art and is used in systems wherein it is necessary to provide 100% shut-off of all gas in the event of pilot flame failure, and wherein it is necessary to provide a manual shut-off of both the main and pilot burner gas supplies to provide complete shutdown of the system.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved combination of a manually operable plug valve and thermo-electrically controlled valve means for shutting otf the supply of fuel to main and pilot burners when the pilot burner flame becomes extinguished.

Another object of the invention is to provide a very compact control device of the above mentioned type, which is of sturdy and reliable construction and which is simple to operate and is of low cost.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined plug and safety valve arrangement which is completely operated by a single manual control knob, which renders it particularly suitable for use in controlling the operation of floor furnaces.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a combined plug and safety valve wherein it is unnecessary for the plug valve to be moved out of its on position to provide safe relighting of the pilot burner by manual manipulation of the single knob that is used to operate the plug valve and the safety valve mechanism.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of the valve or control device taken along the longitudinal axis thereof;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the control taken along the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 33 of Figure 2.

The combination valve or control device consists of a valve body formed of an upper casting and a lower casting 11 secured together, with a gasket 12 therebetween, by means of bolts 13 in a conventional manner.

The upper casting has a threaded inlet 14 and a threaded outlet 15 in coaxial alignment. Located between the inlet and outlet is a thick partition wall 16 having a bore 17 therethrough which is also in coaxial alignment with the inlet and outlet. Intersecting the bore 17 on an axis at right angles to the axis of the bore 17, is a frusto-conical bore 18 extending from a point near the bottom surface of the partition wall 16 to the upper outer surface of the casting 10, the wider portion of the bore being at the upper end thereof. A threaded opening 19 extends from the bottom of the frusto-conical bore to the lower surface of the partition wall 16 and has threaded therein a valve 2,719,531 Patented Oct. 4, 1955 seat member 20. Also extending vertically through the partition wall 16 is a small bore 21 that is offset radially from the bore 18 and slidably supports a plunger 22 therein. The plunger is sealed against gas leakage by means of grease grooves (not shown). Extending from the frusto-conical bore 18 through the partition wall 16 and the outer wall of the casting 10, is a small bore 23 that terminates in an enlarged threaded bore 23a that is adapted to be connected to a pilot burner P. If desired, a similar bore 2323a may be provided diametrically opposite thereto on the other side of the bore 18, to provide selective connections for the pilot burner.

Located in the bore 18 is a frusto-conical plug valve 24 having a transverse bore 25 therethrough of the samediameter as the bore 17 and which is adapted to be in axial alignment with said bore 17 when the plug valve is in its on position. The bottom end of the plug valve 24 is spaced from the bottom of the bore 18 and has a recess 26 therein for a purpose to be hereinafter described. A transversely extending bore 27 extends from the recess 26 through the plug valve 24 in a position to align with the bore 23 when the plug valve is in its on position. An arcuate groove 28 is formed in the outer surface of the plug valve and is positioned to establish communication between the bore 27 and the bore 23 when the plug valve 24 is in its pilot position but out of register with the bore 23 when the plug valve is in its off position. The plug valve 24 is resiliently held seated in the bore 18 by means of a spring 29 positioned in an annular recess 3% formed in the upper end of the plug valve and around valve stem 24a. The spring 29 reacts at its upper end against a plate 31 surrounding the valve stem 24a and spanning the open upper end of the bore 18. The plate 31 is secured to the casting 10 by means of bolts 32. The upper end of the valve stem 24a has a manually operable control knob 33 thereon which is longitudinally slidable but nonrotatably secured thereto by means of a pin 34 extending through said knob 33 and a longitudinally extending slot 35 through the stem 24a. The knob 33 is resiliently urged away from the casting 10 by means of a spring 36 with a force that is considerably less than the force exerted by the spring 29 that holds the plug seated in its bore 18. The length of the slot 35 is such that the knob 33 may be moved axially on the valve stem 24a to engage a head 22a on the upper end of the plunger 22 for moving said plunger downwardly for a purpose to be presently described.

Extending through a bore 37, which extends axially through the valve seat member 20, is a valve stem 38 carrying a valve head 39 at its upper end and an enlarged head 3811 at its lower end. A spring 40 positioned between the valve seat member 20 and the head 38a, resiliently holds the valve head 39 against the upper end of the valve seat 20 to prevent gas flow along the valve stem 38 through longitudinally extending grooves 41 formed in the valve seat member 20 along the bore 37. It is thus seen that the flow of gas to the pilot burner is thus controlled by the two valves 39 and 24.

Supported by a bell-crank lever 42 in a conventional manner is a large disc-type valve 43, made of rubber or any other suitable material, that is adapted to seat against the surface of the partition wall 16 over the inlet end of the bore 17 to control the flow of gas from the inlet 14 to the plug valve. The lever 42 is pivotally mounted in the casting 11 by means of a pivot 44 extending through ears 45 on the lever 42, with one end of the pivot 44 extending into a boss 46 formed on the sidewall of the casting 11 and extending through a bracket 47 which, in turn, is secured to a boss 48 by means of a bolt 49. The lever 42 has a large opening 51 therein to permit the head 38:: on the valve stem 38 to pass through the lever for opening the valve 39.

A second bell-crank lever 51 is also pivoted on the pivot pin 44 by having said pivot extend through the ends of ears 52 formed on the lever 51. A split ring 53, positioned in an annular groove in the pivot 44 adjacent the inner surface of the ear 45, bears against the ear 45 to prevent the pivot 44 from withdrawing from the boss 46. A spring 54 extends between the upper arms of the levers 42 and 51 to resiliently bias them together, with the upper end portion 51a bearing against the lever 42 near the upper end thereof. The other arm of the bell-crank lever 51 has an end portion 51b that is normally positioned a slight distance from the head 38a on the stem of valve 39 but so arranged that rotation of the lever 51 will cause the end 5117 to engage the head 38a to move the valve on? of its seat. The bell-crank lever 51 has an arm 55 thereon which extends downwardly in offset relationship with the end 5112 and has a forked end 55a that engages between spaced abutment shoulders 56 and 57 on the outer end of an armature stem 58. The inner end of the stem 58 carries an armature 59 which is adapted to engage an adjacent end of an electromagnet 60 when the lever 51 is rotated clockwise. The magnet 60 and its housing 60a is held in its assembled position by means of a nut 61 screw threaded on a connector terminal 62 which is physically and electrically connected to electroma'gnet 66.

The lever 51 also has an upwardly extending arm 63, in spaced relationship with respect to the arm 51a, that engages the free end of a bridging lever 64. The lever 64 is connected at its other end to lever 42 by means of a pivot 65 extending through ears 64a on the lever 64 and ears 42a on the lever 42. The lever 64 is positioned to be engaged by the lower end of plunger 22 at a point intermediate its ends.

The valve 43 is resiliently biased into seating engagement with the partition wall 16 by means of a coil spring 66 positioned between the housing for the electromagnet 60 and a spring retaining washer 66a therein against the abutment shoulder 56 on the armature stem 58. The spring 66 tends to rotate the bell-crank lever 51 counterclockwise to hold the upper end 51a of the lever 51 tightly against the upper end of lever 42 carrying the valve 43 and to hold the arm 63 against the free end of the lever 64 which, in turn, holds the plunger 22 in its raised position and the end 51b of the bell-crank lever 51 spaced from the head 38a of valve 39, which permits the valve 39 to be closed by its spring 40.

Operation With the combined valve or control device described above installed in a heating system with the electromagnet 60 connected through lead lines A and B to a thermocouple T adapted to be heated by a pilot burner P, as illustrated schematically in Figure l of the drawing, the inlet 14 will be connected by suitable piping (not shown) to a source of fuel supply, the outlet will be connected by suitable piping (not shown) to the main burner and the outlet 23a will be connected by suitable piping (not shown) to the pilot burner P.

To place the heating system in operation, the knob 33 may be left in its illustrated on position or rotated 90 to a pilot position wherein the arcuate groove 28 registers with pilot gas passage 23 and the bore is out of register with the bore 17. Axial movement of the knob 33, with the pin 34 sliding axially in the slot 35, will cause the lower edge of the knob 33 to engage the head 22a of stem 22 to force the stem downwardly against the central portion of the lever 64 against the bias of spring 36. As the valve 43 is resting against the partition wall 16 at this time, the pivot 65 at the other end of the bell-crank lever 42 will remain stationary and the lever 64 will rotate clockwise around the pivot 65 as the plunger 22 continues to move downwardly under the bias of the knob 33. The clockwise rotation of the lever 64 will impart clockwise rotation to the bell-crank lever 51 to cause the end 51a of the lever 51 to separate from the adjacent portion of the lever 42, by stretching the spring 54, and will move the armature 59 into engagement with the electromagnet 60 and the end 51b of the lever 51 into engagement with the head 38 to open the valve 39 against the bias of spring 66 and spring 40. This will cause gas to flow from the inlet 14, through the groove 41, along the valve stem 38, through the passage 27 and arcuate groove 28, bore 2323a and through the piping, not shown, to the pilot burner P. By igniting the gas issuing from the pilot burner and allowing sufiicient time for the thermocouple T to be heated sufficiently to energize the magnet 60, the knob 33 may then be released without interrupting the flow of gas to the pilot burner.

The releasing of the knob 33 permits the spring 36 to move the knob 33 away from the casting 10 and enables the spring 54 to pull the adjacent portion of the lever 42 into engagement with the end 51a of the lever 51, which is being retained in its reset position by the armature 59 being held by the magnet 60. The clockwise rotation of the lever 42 opens the valve 43 to permit gas to flow from the inlet 14 to the plug valve 24. If the plug valve 24 is in its open position, gas will flow to the main burner. However, if the plug valve is in its pilot position, it will be necessary to rotate the knob 33 to the on position before gas can flow to the main burner from the valve 43.

it will thus be observed that no gas can flow to the main burner unless there is a flame present at the pilot burner, as it is obvious that unless the thermocouple is energized by a pilot flame, the spring 66 will cause the bell-crank lever 51 to follow the movement of the plunger 22 and knob 33, and lever 64 during the inward and outward axial movement of the knob. This provides safe lighting of the fuel burning unit.

At the end of the heating season or for any other reason that it is desired to shut down the heating unit, all that it is necessary to do is to rotate the knob 33 to its off position, which takes the bore 25 out of registration with the bore 17 and thebore 23 out of registration with either the arcuate groove 28 or bore 27, which cuts off both the main gas flow and the pilot gas flow, respectively. Upon extinguishment of the pilot flame, the magnet 60 will become de-energized through cooling of the thermocouple and the spring 66 will force the armature away from the electromagnet and rotate the lever 51 counterclockwise to close the valve 43and permit the valve 39 to close.

While I have described the preferred embodiment of the invention in detail above, it is to be understood that various modifications may be made in the preferred design without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined solely from the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A safetydevice comprising a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a partition Wall between said inlet and outlet, a first bore through said partition, a first valve controlling fluid flow through said first bore, a second bore intersecting said first bore and extending from the exterior of said housing to a closed end, a second rotary valve in said second bore having a stem extending outwardly from said housing and having a third bore extending transversely therethrough and a peripheral groove in and a connecting passage through the inner end thereof to said second bore, a handle axially slidable but non-rotatably connected to said stem, means resiliently biasing said handle away from said housing, a fourth bore in said partition wall extending from the closed end of said second bore to the inlet side of said partition wall, a third valve controlling fluid flow through said fourth bore, means biasing said third valve closed, a fifth bore extending from the exterior of said housing to the second bore at said groove a first L- sh'aped lever pivoted intermediate its ends on a fixed pivot in said housing and carrying a movable pivot at one end thereof and said first valve at the other end thereof, a

second bell-crank lever having forked ends and pivoted intermediate its ends on said fixed pivot, one fork of one end of said second lever being positioned to engage said third valve and one fork of said other end engaging said first lever adjacent said first valve, a tension spring extending between said first and second levers between said fixed pivot and said first valve for normally holding said other ends together, a condition responsive means connected to the other fork of said one end and biased in a direction to hold said first valve closed, a third lever pivoted at one of its ends on said movable pivot and bearing at its other end on the other fork of said other end of said bell-crank lever, and a plunger extending from an intermediate portion of said third lever to the exterior of said housing with the outer end thereof positioned under said handle for engagement thereby upon inward movement thereof.

2. In a safety control having a housing with an inlet and a main burner outlet and a pilot burner outlet, the combination comprising a cut-off valve having first and second passages therein through which fuel may flow from said inlet to said outlets, respectively, said cut-off valve being movable in one plane between off, pilot and on positions, a first valve between said inlet and first passage, a second valve between said inlet and said second passage, condition responsive means for holding said first and second valves open when a predetermined condition exists and to cause said valves to close automatically when said condition ceases to exist, manually operable means connected to said cut-off valve for moving it between said positions, and motion transmitting means including a pivoted lever between said manually operable means and said first and second valves, said manually operable means being additionally movable in another plane from any one of said positions to open said second valve and reset said condition responsive means while holding said first valve closed.

3. A control device comprising a valve body having an inlet and an outlet, a rotary valve having first and second passages therein for fuel flow to main and pilot burners respectively, a third passage in said body between said inlet and said first passage a first lever carrying a first valve cooperable with said third passage for controlling fuel flow to said first passage, a fourth passage in said body between said inlet and said second passage, a second valve cooperable with said fourth passage for controlling fuel flow to said second passage, a second lever having one portion thereof positioned to engage the first lever and another portion positioned to engage the second valve and movable in one direction to close said first valve and mov- 4 able in the opposite direction to open said second valve, resilient means between said first lever and said second lever biasing said first lever toward said second lever, condition responsive means connected to said second lever for holding said second lever in an operative position wherein both of said first and second valves are open and having means for biasing said second lever to an inoperative position where said first and second valves are closed, manually operable means for rotating said rotary valve, and means between said manually operable means and said first and second levers for moving said second valve open and resetting said condition responsive means while holding said first valve closed.

4. A safety device comprising a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a partition wall between said inlet and outlet, a first bore through said partition, a first valve controlling fluid flow through said first bore, a second bore intersecting said first bore and extending from the exterior of said housing to a closed end, a second rotary valve in said second bore having a stem extending outwardly from said housing and having a third bore extending transversely therethrough and a peripheral groove in and a connecting passage through the inner end thereof to said second bore, a handle axially slidable but non-rotatably connected to said stem, means resiliently biasing said handle away from said housing, a fourth bore in said partition wall extending from the closed end of said second bore to the inlet side of said partition wall, a third valve controlling fluid flow through said fourth bore, means biasing said third valve closed, a fifth bore extending from the exterior of said housing to the second bore at said groove, a first lever pivoted intermediate its ends on a fixed pivot in said housing and carrying a movable pivot at one end thereof and said first valve at the other end thereof, a second lever having forked ends and pivoted intermediate its ends on said fixed pivot, one fork of one end of said second lever being positioned to engage said third valve and one fork of said other end engaging said first lever adjacent said first valve, a tension spring extending between said first and second levers between said fixed pivot and said first valve for normally holding said other ends together, a condition responsive means connected to the other fork of said one end and biased in a direction to hold said first valve closed, a third lever pivoted at one of its ends on said movable pivot and bearing at its other end on the other fork of said other end of said second lever, and means extending from an intermediate portion of said third lever to the exterior of said housing with the outer end thereof positioned under said handle for engagement thereby upon inward movement thereof.

5. A control device comprising a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a rotary valve having first and second passages therein for controlling fuel flow to main and pilot burners, respectively, a third passage in said housing between said inlet and said first passage, a first lever carrying a first valve cooperable with said third passage for controlling fuel flow to said first passage, a fourth passage in said body between said inlet and said second passage, a second valve coaxial with said rotary valve and cooperable with said fourth passage for controlling fuel flow to said second passage, a second lever positioned to engage said first lever and said second valve at different points thereof and movable in one direction to close said first valve and cause said second valve to close and movable in the opposite direction to open said second valve and to move away from said first valve, resilient means between said first lever and said second lever biasing said first lever toward said second lever, condition responsive means connected to said second lever for holding said second lever in an operative position wherein both of said first and second valves are open and having means for biasing said second lever to an inoperative position where said first and second valves are closed, manually operable means for rotating said rotary valve, and means between said manually operable means and said first and second levers for moving said second valve open and resetting said condition responsive means while holding said first valve closed.

6. A safety device comprising a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a partition wall between said inlet and outlet, a first bore through said partition, a first valve controlling fluid flow through said first bore, a second bore intersecting said first bore and extending from the exterior of said housing to a closed end, a second rotary valve in said second bore having a stem extending outwardly from said housing and having a third bore extending transversely therethrough and a passage therethrough from the periphery thereof to the inner end thereof, a handle axially slidable but non-rotatably connected to said stem, means resiliently biasing said handle away from said housing, a fourth bore in said partition wall extending from the closed end of said second bore to the inlet side of said partition wall, a third valve controlling fluid flow through said fourth bore, means biasing said third valve closed, a fifth bore extending from the exterior of said housing to the second bore at said passage, a first lever pivoted on a fixed pivot in said housing and carrying a movable pivot at one end thereof and said first valve at the other end thereof, a second lever having forked ends and pivoted on said fixed pivot, one fork of one end of said second lever being positioned to engage said third valve and one fork of said other end engaging said first lever adjacent said first valve, resilient means extending between said first and second levers for normally holding said other ends together, a condition responsive means connected to the other fork of said one end and biased in a direction to hold said first valve closed, a third lever pivoted at one of its ends on said movable pivot and hearing at its other end on the other fork of said other end of said second lever, and means extending from an intermediate portion of said third lever to the exterior of said housing with the outer end thereof positioned under said handle for engagement thereby upon inward movement thereof in any angular position of said handle.

7. In a safety control having a housing with an inlet and a main burner outlet and a pilot burner outlet, the combination comprising a cut-off valve having first and second passages therein, said valve being movable between ofi, pilot and on positions, a first valve radially spaced from said cut-off valve and located between said inlet and said first passage and a second valve coaxial with said cut-oif valve and positioned between said inlet and said second passage, condition responsive means for holding said first and second valves open when a predetermined condition exists and to cause said valves to close automatically when said condition ceases to exist, manually operable means connected to said cut-01f valve for moving it between said positions, and motion transmitting means including a pivoted lever mechanically between said manually operable means, said condition responsive means and said first and second valves, said manually operable means being additionally movable in another plane from any one of said positions to open said second valve and reset said condition responsive means while holding said first valve closed.

8. A control device comprising a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a valve having first and second passages therein for fuel flow to main and pilot burners, respectively, a third passage in said housing between said inlet and said first passage, a first lever carrying a first valve cooperable with said third passage for controlling fuel flow to said first passage, a fourth passage in said housing between said inlet and said second passage, a second valve cooperable with said fourth passage for controlling fuel flow to said second passage, a second lever pivoted in said housing and movable in one direction to engage said first lever to close said first valve and movable in the opposite direction to engage and to open said second valve, resilient means between said first lever and said second lever biasing said first lever toward said second lever, condition responsive means connected to said second lever for holding said second lever in an operative position wherein both of said first and second valves are open when a predetermined condition exists and having means for biasing said second lever to an inoperative position where said first and second valves are closed when said condition ceases to exist, manually operable means for rotating said rotary valve and axially slidable relative thereto, and means between said manually operable means and said first and second levers for moving said second valve open and resetting said condition responsive means while holding said first valve closed upon sliding movement of said manually operable means and for causing said second valve to open upon return movement of said manually operable means if said condition exists.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,542,127 Ewing Feb. 20, 1951 2,567,123 Ray Sept. 4, 1951 2,589,573 Ray Mar. 18, 1952 2,624,358 Ray Jan. 6, 1953 

